PM Modi inaugurates Indian space start-up Skyroot's Infinity Campus, unveils rocket Vikram-I

PM Modi also unveiled Skyroot's first orbital rocket, Vikram-I, with the capability to launch satellites to orbit. The state-of-the-art facility will have around 2,00,000 square feet of workspace for designing, developing, integrating and testing multiple launch vehicles, with a capacity to build one orbital rocket every month.

Skyroot is India's leading private space company, founded by Pawan Chandana and Bharath Dhaka, both alumni of the Indian Institutes of Technology and former ISRO scientists turned entrepreneurs. In November 2022, Skyroot launched its sub-orbital rocket, Vikram-S, becoming the first Indian private company to launch a rocket to space, according to a press release by the PMO.

This is looked at a step towards making India a global space power.

Earlier on Wednesday, PM Modi virtually inaugurated Safran Aircraft Engine Services' new Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Hyderabad, marking the growth of India's aviation sector at an "unprecedented pace."

PM Modi said that India is dreaming big, doing bigger and delivering the best as he urged investors to come to India as co-creators in the journey of a developed India.

The Prime Minister, who attended the ceremony via video conferencing, said that the upcoming Safran's largest Indian Engine Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the GMR Aerospace and Industrial Park would strengthen India's position as a global MRO hub.

PM Modi said the facility marked a significant step in India's efforts to localise high-value aviation services and will "create opportunities for the youths in the world of high-tech space."

"In the past few years, India's aviation sector has advanced at an unprecedented pace. Today, India is among the fastest-growing domestic aviation markets in the world. Our domestic market is now the third-largest globally. The aspirations of the people of India are reaching the skies," PM Modi said.

PM Modi noted that India historically depended on overseas facilities, with "85 per cent MRO work done on foreign land," resulting in high costs and long aircraft grounding periods. He said the government was now working to change this situation. (ANI)